Product of Affection
by The-Darkness-Befalls
Summary: "Even if you can deceive people about a product through misleading statements, sooner or later the product will speak for itself." - Hajime Karatsu. Ron/Lavender. Pairing One Hour Challenge Entry on HPFC, level m1h.


_"Won-won. . . I la-lo-love you."_

_"Ronnie? I luve you."_

_"Ron? I love you."_

She could remember every time she told him she loved him, every time they lay together, every time he held her and said that he would love her forever.

And she could remember when he realised he loved Hermione Bloody Granger, and she could remember how devastated she felt, and when everything really fell apart.

She remembered most of all the green of the potion that told her yes, when part of her deeply wished it was the red of no.

* * *

_"Even if you can deceive people about a product through misleading statements,"_

* * *

The idea of their five year class reunion left Lavender with an uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't seen Ron since they had parted, much less most of her other former classmates since the end of the war.

It wasn't the thought of seeing him with Hermione that worried her.

It was the thought of him seeing Jasmine, and knowing that she was his.

But in the end, she had to go. She didn't want to imagine how it would go if he came looking for her if she did not.

She walked into Hogwarts in a nice set of dress robes, her four and a half year old daughter on her hip.

Jasmine looked, for the most part, exactly like her mother. Dirty blonde hair with a natural wave offsetting her pale face, ears and nose a perfect image of her mother's..

But Jasmine's eyes told the reality of who she was.

They were Ron's eyes, and that she could not deny.

Parvati made a beeline for the two of them, her arms outstretched.

"How is my little flower, hmmm?" Lavender was glad for the distraction, and passed her daughter over to her godmother.

"Thank you, Parvati," she said quietly, looking around.

"It's not a problem, Lav. Why don't you go get some pumpkin juice? It'll calm your stomach."

With that, Parvati and Jasmine waved her off.

* * *

The only problem with getting pumpkin juice was the man with red hair and perfect blue eyes who stood beside the table it sat on.

"Hey! Lav! How've you been?" Ron's excited words brought her back to being eighteen again, when the war was over, when she thought love could conquer all.

"Hello, Ron. We've. . . I've been good. How is Hermione?" She asked even though she didn't want to hear the answer.

"She's fine. Off somewhere with Harry, I think. What do you mean we? Did you get married?"

Married. Hah. What kind of wizard would want to marry someone with a kid?

"Er. . . well my daughter and I. Jasmine is-" she was cut off by Parvati's appearance.

"She's three. A little handful, but she makes the both of us such happy parents."

She took Parvati's distraction with glee.

"It was. . . nice. . . seeing you, Ron. Let's head home, shall we? It's past her bedtime."

It was almost two years before she ran into Ron again. Parvati had since married a nice young half-blood bloke from Brighton, and was expecting their first child.

And she was still a single mother, and Jasmine was still unaware of who her father was.

Jasmine was being fitted for her new robes when Ron stepped into the clothier, and Lavender did not see him until he had nearly reached her.

"Good afternoon, Lavender. Haven't seen you in awhile. How's your girlfriend?"

"I'm not into women, Ron. You of all people should have figured that out."

"Parvati certainly made it seem otherwise before."

"Well, Ronald, I -" she was cut off by the reappearance of Jasmine and the owner of the shop from behind the dressing curtain.

"Oh, hello Mr. Weasley. Here to pick up your friend's dress?" the shop owner asked as she lead Jasmine to her mother.

"Yes, Hermione said that her fiancee already paid for it?"

Hermione's fiancee?

"He certainly did. Let me finish up with Miss Brown's fitting and I will get that for you."

* * *

"Mum? Is this my daddy?" Lavender cast a horrified glance at her young daughter who stared up at Ron.

"Jasmine, honey, not every man you see is your father."

"But Mum! He has my eyes!"

Lavender spun away from Ron, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

"Lavender? How old is she?"

"I'm almost six!"

"Your name is Jasmine, right?" Ron asked carefully. Jasmine nodded, looking up at her father with her perfect blue eyes.

"Jasmine, did your mother ever tell you who your daddy was?"

Lavender felt the ground spin beneath her feet. She was fairly certain the owner of the shop was trying to speak to her, but she ignored it.

"No, but you must be because you have my eyes and Mummy said my daddy has the best eyes in the world and my eyes are the best in the world."

* * *

"Lavender, why didn't you tell me?" Ron asked her. Lavender wanted to cry until she couldn't cry again.

"Ron, she was a product of our affection. But you told me you loved Hermione. Who was I to ruin that?" She felt like she had taken something from him that she could never give him back, and it was something that she had never intended to take.

She loved him, and she would give anything to make him happy. Back then, she thought this would have.

"I would have come to you in an instant. I always loved you best."

* * *

_"-sooner or later the product will speak for itself. - Hajime Karatsu_

* * *

End.

Entry for the Pairing One Hour Challenge, m1H.

Ron/Lavender

Prompt: "Even if you can deceive people about a product through misleading statements, sooner or later the product will speak for itself." - Hajime Karatsu

Word count is over 1,050 words according to Google docs.


End file.
